Tasting old Siberia in Moscow

Oleg Menshikov, who starred in Oscar-winning "Burnt by the Sun," proposed to create the Chemodan restaurant in Moscow after his trip to Krasnoyarsk in eastern Siberia. Source: RIA Novosti

Dining out in Moscow is a lot swankier than before, but looking for an authentic Russian restaurant with great food, ambience and service can still feel like a trip across the taiga.

Chemodan
(Suitcase), a restaurant literally transported from the wilds of Siberia, goes
beyond the stereotypes and delivers something that you won’t find at Moscow’s
showier Russian-style eateries, Cafe Pushkin and Turandot: a taste of the real
19th century frontier Russia, replete with generous portions of venison, boar
and whitefish – not to mention bear cutlets, dumplings and old-style Siberian
vodka.

Chemodan is
a short walk from Moscow’s Christ the Savior
Cathedral, where the Pussy Riot girls’ controversial “punk prayer” landed them
a jail term (most probably in Siberia). But
walking into the wooden-floored, quaintly furnished restaurant, you can take a
culinary trip to Siberia without leaving Moscow.

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The
‘gastronomic theater’ came into being through a trip to Krasnoyarsk
in eastern Siberia by actor Oleg Menshikov,
one of only a handful of Russian film stars who are also famous in the West. Menshikov,
best known for his bravura performances in Nikita Mikhalkov’s Oscar-winning
“Burnt by the Sun” and the U.S.-Russian hit “The Barber of Siberia,” found the
original Chemodan there, and proposed to its owner to recreate it in Moscow.

In Russia,
chemodan (derived from the ancient Tatar for ‘clothes store’) is an evocative
word, associated with long journeys – both wished-for and involuntary. Even
today, “sitting on your suitcase” is a favorite Russian saying, bringing to
mind both the wait for Jewish emigration in the 1970s and the more sinister
night-time knock on the door from Stalin’s secret police in the 1930s purges. It
can also signify a “suitcase mood,” of wishing oneself far, far away.

A meal in
Chemodan starts with Russian staples such as cabbage soup (“shchi”) with
mushrooms and Olivier salad, but Siberian game, sourced directly from Siberian
huntsmen, is the star attraction. From rabbit pate and venison carpaccio,
graduate to Siberian whitefish and the ubiquitous venison (also delicious in
Siberian “pelmeni” or dumplings), while the more adventurous can try the gamey
boar with mushroom cream sauce and bear cutlets.

The best
accompaniment to the wild things that could be stuffed on your wall is the
clean-tasting “yerofeich,” a traditional Russian vodka with cumin, aniseed and
other herbs and spices. It comes in several fruity varieties, and is the
genuine way to recreate the Siberian merchant experience. Desserts, too, come
in a pure Siberian form: varieties of jams and specialty teas, such as the
“Siberian honeysuckle.”

Chemodan’s
service, like the nostalgic black-and-white photos on the wall, and the
attentive, plain-dressed staff, speaks to a serious, understated attitude to
fine dining. The menu comes in Russian and English, and prices are in the upper
medium range for Moscow,
with starters, mains and vodka coming to $75-$100 per head.